because of intentional conversations about race and racial issues. A deep conviction about the authority and relevance of the Bible was instrumental in transforming the church into a multi-racial community of believers. The church leadership model has been a top-down pastor-led structure throughout the process. Influence and direction have been centered on the personality and character of the lead pastor. Although the other team members are committed and loyal, the church’s ethos reflects the lead pastor. His values permeate every area. His vision is reflected in every gathering. His outward passion for people rubs off on the other leaders and members. To illustrate this, one of the other pastors shares how important the Lead Pastor’s presence is at the church. He states, “Louie [the Lead Pastor] will paint a reality that he wants it to be, not necessarily the reality that is.
Because he wants everybody to see the other person from the inside out like he does because, he really is one of those people who has no racial guile. He is a very unusual person. I think this whole mission and vision hinges on a leader that’s like that.”
shares, “One of the hardest transitions in the life of a church is when the original pastor moves on, and someone has to take his place. That’s a pretty tough thing for a church to go through.” However, the church eventually found another pastor. It continued its mission until the next transition in 2019 when the church underwent another location change and an unexpected lead pastor transition.
Today, Perimeter Community Church has a Black Lead Pastor with a diverse leadership team. Though it has not been easy, the church has transitioned from mono- ethnic to multi-ethnic. The church sees itself as redeemed messy people pointing other messy people to the gospel of Jesus. Their shared vision is to redeem lives, families, communities, and the world through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The core values demonstrate their commitment to diversity and discipleship. As a church, they seek to love people one at a time, feed people the Word of God, connect them to God through prayer and worship, and motivate them to serve.4
Race relations in the church. The racial make-up of Perimeter is 45 percent White, 40 percent Black, 10 percent Latino, and 5 percent Asian. When the members of Perimeter Community Church gather, it feels like having a meal with family. Just like the table provides a central location from which we can all find the nourishment we need, the church is a source of strength and life for all those who partake. The family at Perimeter is made up of all colors and kinds. Brady describes it this way:
We embrace all people. We desire all people. There’s a spirit of real inclusion.
because we’ve lovingly cared for others, no matter what stage of life they’re out or what their ethnicity is, or what sort of economic status they are, we embrace people openly. It is part of our mission statement that we redeem lives and families and our
4 Their core values included (1) Love People One at a Time (Relationships), where every individual bears the image of God. Therefore, we will perpetuate the inclusive nature of God’s family by loving all people with dignity, respect, and honor. (2) Feed People the Word of God (Spiritual Growth). The Bible, the word of God, is the final authority. Therefore, we will present it clearly, creatively, and
consistently for spiritual nourishment and growth. (3) Connect People to God through Prayer and Worship (Intimacy). Through Christ, we have full access to our heavenly Father by His Spirit. Therefore, we will encourage personal and public pursuits of encountering God. (4) Motivate People to Serve (Humility). God is glorified through redeeming lives, communities, and the world. Therefore, embracing the mind of Christ, we will join Him in sacrificial service to the kingdom of heaven.
community and our world, so we really go after it. If you ask Black, White, Latino, Asian who come here, they would all say this is a very accepting church, there’s a very genuine love that’s felt and experienced here. People are very friendly and engaging in that. It’s a place of gospel-centeredness.
The church members aspire to be a reflection of a New Testament church.
Brady illustrates this commitment to the biblical model. He states,
We want to be intentionally on a journey towards oneness, as Jesus described it. And to do so, you have to address the Jew and the Gentile on a regular basis. And so when we think about the New Testament church, that’s what they dealt with. The church in Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae, and Corinth, they were all multiethnic churches, multicultural, and it was Jew and Gentile, and there was a lot of disparity between the two of them.
Another of Perimeter’s leaders shares the rewarding part about being involved in a multi- ethnic church. Charles adds,
I think what’s rewarding for me is seeing people from all different backgrounds come to faith, and seeing someone different than me grow in their faith journey. You know, you’ll see someone actually find Christ. And convert the light going off like, Wow, OK. You know, faith is not just a Sunday experience. I’m a part of this body.
If. My faith life is not compartmentalized in this one same day, but it’s like
integrated in everything else. So I think seeing that play out for people and helping people find a purpose in life, that’s rewarding.
Church leadership. Perimeter Community Church operated with a traditional leadership model of a lead pastor, a staff team, and a board of elders. This model worked well when the church was mono-ethnic, but as the church became more diverse than before, this model began to show some weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The leadership team realized that if too much responsibility and influence are placed on one person, navigating through diversity change depends on that person’s leadership skills to deal with the specific issues that uniquely come with racial diversity. Perimeter’s leadership team today is engaged and has ownership in solving problems and bringing solutions.
This broad engagement of each team member has increased because of a shared emphasis that each member has value and brings a unique and valuable perspective. This
equalizing of influence and input plays out in racial discussions and racially mixed
decision-making. For example, Barry describes his experience in watching this unfold in team dynamics. He states,
When you have a multi-racial leadership team, you have an opportunity to grow in your understanding of each other. Because it’s really complex, and there’s so much room for misunderstanding. For instance, in one sense, the White man cannot experience the Black man’s world. But to say that can seem condescending to the White man. To say to the White man, “You don’t understand; therefore, you have no part in this conversation” does not build a team. It takes everybody on the team to move toward good solutions to complex issues. The team needs the perspective of the Black man who experiences real prejudice and injustice. The team also needs the perspective of the White man who, though he may not experience racial injustice, does however have tremendous influence to bring about change.
Effective church leadership requires this kind of approach. Perimeter’s leaders have not always had a shared leadership model such as this. Their increased diversity might have exposed their need for more engagement, forcing them to either stop the diversity or make a change in leadership.
Multi-racial leadership. Over the past five years since this research, Perimeter has seen an increase in diversity among its people and in its pastoral leadership. As this growth in diversity was happening, it was not always easy for the leadership to interpret and understand what it meant. Barry, the current Black lead pastor, remembers the day in a staff meeting when the lead pastor at the time said something obvious to everyone but awkward to hear. Barry recalls, “In one meeting, the Lead Pastor said in front of everyone, ‘Our church is changing, and the people who are coming look more like you, Barry, and the people who are leaving look more like me.’ And it was like, oh yeah, that’s true, everybody in the room was quiet. It was really awkward, but this is what everybody was seeing and experiencing.”
Perimeter’s story illustrates some of the challenges of transitioning to greater diversity. As the numbers of the minority racial group increased, it revealed the presence of racial division and racist attitudes. Barry again recalls how this affected the team:
It was White Flight. That’s exactly what it was. In fact, you know, there were comments that were made to our White Lead Pastor that said you need to be careful
or you going to turn this into a Black church! Oh, and also, there was one moment where somebody turned on a Wi-Fi hotspot on their phone, and it had a derogatory racial term. It would show up when people went into their phone to try to get on the WIFI, it would be one of the WIFI options that would show up, and it would not show up every Sunday. It would just show up on certain Sundays. And so that was like, OK, somebody is coming and trying to make a point. And so, we had to kind of work through those dynamics.
As the church’s racial diversity increased, it continued to adversely affect the leadership, especially the lead pastor at the time. Kent shared his perspective of the impact on the White lead pastor. Kent reflects,
This opportunity and vision of becoming more racially diverse didn’t primarily come from the lead pastor. It didn’t even primarily come from other leadership. It was more that circumstantially God was at work in different ways. And then all of a sudden, the Lord just started to form us into a more and more multiethnic. And I think some of that is what he did through those individuals, but to be honest, not through our Lead Pastor at all. He was kind of bad at it. He tried, but he was pretty bad there. Great preacher, yes. Good preaching is good preaching. But it was through a lot of our outreach ministries that our church began to be more multi- ethnic. It was though that time that our church started more and more reflecting the community around us.
As the racial makeup of the membership at Perimeter became more diverse than before, so did the leadership team. As this happened, the leaders began to realize different dynamics as they worked together. For example, in comparison to when their leadership was much more mono-ethnic, they now needed to compromise and defer more to the other team members. Kent adds,
As we were becoming more multi-colored, we discovered the seventy-five percent rule. It said, “If you are attending our church, you shouldn’t be happy with more than 75 percent of what’s going on.” Because if you are, then we as leaders are completely catering to you, and we are missing out on your brother or sister’s preferences over here. And the same thing on the other side. So, for example, we sort of adopted that on the worship team. And it’s like, the tension was real. Because this certain guy is playing guitar one Sunday, and we tell him we are playing five gospel-style songs, and he says, “But I’m a rocker! I don’t like gospel. I don’t know this stuff. I don’t know how to do this stuff.” And I told him, “Me neither, but we’re doing it.”
Case summary. Perimeter has weathered the storms of change. They have transitioned through different leaders, locations, and circumstances as a church. Early on, they did not intend to become more diverse. Their diversity grew due to putting their faith
in action and serving the community around them. It just happened that the community surrounding the church was more diverse than their membership.
Their leaders and members have grown in trust and confidence partly due to their commitment to the gospel and one another. The church does see itself as being messy. This perspective puts them on the road to humility and life change. Barry puts it this way:
Yeah, in certain meetings, somebody will share an idea, and then somebody will say,
“No, that will cause this or that.” And people are like, “Oh, wow, I didn’t know that.” And that is the healthiest thing because it means that we’re growing. Now, we are becoming more sensitive to each other for the next decision that needs to be made. Even, just on our team, we are more bold and more confident. I’ll lay my perspective on the table because it’s my perspective, it’s my vantage point, and I have help at the table to make sure that it considers the masses.
Evaluation of Research Design
This section evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the research design.
The study used a mixed methods approach to the research, employing a quantitative survey followed by in-depth interviews to explore the ministry perceptions and practices of pastors serving together on a multi-racial leadership team. Eleven church leaders from three different churches were interviewed in person, allowing for confidential
conversations that were easily recordable for transcription. The one-to-one nature of the interviews allowed the researcher and participant to form a friendly bond. In some instances, the interview seemed like a personal documentary of each pastor’s journey.
This research design also provided the best framework for interpreting the shared practices from the participant’s personal and pastoral perceptions. The researcher’s current role as a pastor of a church afforded beneficial insights into the conversation and resulting information from participants. However, at the same time, in conducting, analyzing, and evaluating the research, the researcher was aware of how similar
experiences could form a confirmation bias in the interpretation and understanding of the findings. Also, the qualitative research methodology presents potential limitations rooted
in the analysis process, which mainly rests on the researcher’s thinking and decision- making. Therefore, a possibility exists for limitation based on the researcher’s
assumptions, interests, perceptions, and personal biases. Because of this, a strict research protocol that affirms the trustworthiness of the findings was developed to neutralize these factors and assure reliability.
In conclusion, the personal interviews that formed the foundation for the data input for this project provided rich, thick data that gives insight into Black and White leaders’ perceptions of how they have experienced, processed, and dealt with multi-racial leadership. The data provided nine clear themes that emerged from the research. The similarities and connections in the data have been highlighted and contrasted. Thus, many possibilities of applicability and conclusions have emerged. In the next chapter, nine conclusions are delineated and expounded upon, providing direct answers to the research questions which have driven this study.
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS
Chapter 4 described three churches that are led by a multi-racial leadership team. Each of these three churches is in or around the Atlanta metro area. Each church values diversity among its members as well as its leadership. This chapter presents the interpretation and analysis of the above research findings. It describes the conclusions of the cross-case analysis findings of the three participating churches. These conclusions and applications are organized into nine shared practices across the three participating churches. These conclusions also make recommendations for other churches that desire to implement a multi-racial team leadership model. This chapter explains how the study’s research findings contribute to the gap in the existing literature base identified in chapter 2. Finally, suggestions for further empirical research on multi-racial church leadership in the local church are also presented.
Interpretation and Analysis of Research Findings
This research thesis aimed to identify patterns and practices in Black/White shared leadership teams in churches and determined significant factors contributing to their successes and failures. The first guiding research question was, “What are the demographic and cultural characteristics of churches with multi-racial Black/White team leadership?” Chapter 4 revealed the demographic findings and unique perspectives of each participating leader. The second guiding question of this study was, “What are the common ministerial perceptions and practices of pastors in churches with multi-racial Black/White team leadership?” To answer this question, chapter 4 described case study findings from the various leaders in each participating church. The perspectives were
given in response to interview questions regarding the leaders’ experiences in their multi- racial team leadership model.
Common practices were identified across the three case studies to study these exemplary church models and discover research applications further. Cross-case coding and analysis were conducted to find common ministry practices and habits patterns. In gathering data from these pastoral leaders, much wisdom and insight surfaced. Cross-case analysis revealed multiple common practices utilized by the church leadership to
cultivate healthy and effective multi-racial leadership teams. Through content analysis and concerning the precedent literature, nine themes, described as shared practices among the case studies, emerged from the study. Each of the themes contained subsections of shared practices. The following section describes the nine themes and quotes from the cross-case data investigation.